The five were believed to be members of a faction of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) group, which was blamed for an attack on a cafe in Dhaka in July in which 22 people were killed, most of them foreigners.

"They planned to attack on New Year's Eve," Monirul Islam, head of the counter-terrorism police unit, told a news conference.

Islam declined to elaborate when asked about the militants' target and how they planned to attack but said police had also seized 60 kg (132 lb) of explosives, when the five were detained in overnight raids in the capital.

The five were paraded before the media but did not speak to reporters.